Strengths

There are some common interview questions that can be quite tricky to answer. Questions about your strengths are not always tricky, but you do want to make sure to answer them in the correct way. The point of an interview is for a hiring manager to get to know you. You want them to realize that you would be a great fit for their company. You also want to get to know the company a bit more to make sure that it is the right fit for you.

Because of all of that, it makes sense that an interviewer will ask you about your strengths. There are numerous reasons why they would ask and certain ways you want to make sure to answer.

Why Hiring Managers Ask About Your Strengths

As stated previously, an interview is a time for an interviewer to get to know you as a worker. Therefore, they ask you about what you excel at so they can begin to understand what you are good at. This is the most straightforward and obvious reason that you get asked about what makes you a good, strong employee. There are other reasons as well:

View:An interviewer may ask questions of this nature to try to ascertain if you have a realistic view of yourself. Do you know what your strengths and weaknesses are? Do you think you are good at things that others do not? If you have a realistic view of who you are as an employee that makes you a strong employee because you know where you need to improve.

Confident:The way you answer these types of questions also shows how confident you are. If you try to brush off your strengths and accomplishments as nothing out of the ordinary, the interviewer may get a sense that you really aren’t that confident. Confidence is important because you probably have to interact with coworkers, customers or clients and if you aren’t confident you won’t be able to handle these situations well.

Arrogant:Are you able to give an answer in a way that highlights those attributes without coming across as arrogant? A future employer wants you to be confident, but they also don’t want you to be arrogant. That is a fine line, but the way you answer these questions will give them an idea of whether or not you cross it.

Values:The way you answer questions about what you’re good at will also show a hiring manager what your values are. What you consider strengths says a lot about you. If you think you are good at working by yourself, this shows a hiring manager that you value being able to work alone. An interviewer wants to know what you value because this will be the best way for them to understand if you are a good fit for the company.

Hiring managers never ask a question without good reason. Most questions that they ask show them so much about you. That’s why it is important that you prepare for all of the common questions, and really do your research about the company. You want to make sure to answer every question in the best way possible.

How You Should Answer

When you are answering a question about what you are strong in, you want to make sure to answer in a way that shows you in a positive light to the potential employer. This means you have to know a bit about the company. As with most interview questions, you have to do some research. The research will let you know what the company values. This will help you know what types of abilities they find important.

After the research comes the practice. Now that you know what abilities or traits they may find important, you want to practice giving a truthful answer that will make you look good to them. That means that you have to think about your abilities and find a way to make them line up with the company’s values. You want to make sure to practice your answer, so you come across as confident yet not arrogant.

You want to answer a question about your strengths in a similar way to how you want to answer every interview question. You need to think about the company you are interviewing for. Think about your past. Then, come up with an answer that fits both of those flawlessly. You don’t want to lie and make an answer that fits the company. You want to be truthful, confident and well-prepared. The way you answer an interview question, no matter the topic, can either make or break your interview. Make sure that you are prepared by doing your research and practicing.

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About the Author

About the Author

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